See our information page to see how you can help. In inclement weather or when there is not enough staff to take students outside, children in many NYC Public Schools watch TV instead of having a recess. In order to help reduce the amount of TV watching in schools, we have started two pilot programs to address this issue- one at PS199Q and one at PS150Q in Sunnyside, Queens. For 10 weeks, the Art
s for Recess pilot programs will bring in artists once a week to perform for the children at the time when they would regularly be watching television. Because many NYC schools do not have the indoor facilities to support a more active indoor recess nor the staff to supervise such programs, we are trying to provide the next best thing by bringing what we hope will be inspiring artistic performances and activities that not only will reduce the time our children spend in front of the television, but will also bring more of the arts back into our public schools. Our hope is that programs like this will continue beyond our pilot programs and become a model for similar programs throughout New York City. DATES OF OUR PILOT PROGRAMS
PS199Q Pilot: Jan 5th- March 18th, 2011
PS150Q Pilot: Jan 18th-March 18th, 2011
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Currently, we are seeking additional volunteer artists, or artists willing to work at reduced rates, to help us prove that programs like Arts for Recess really can work in our New York City Public Schools. We need artists such as storytellers, musicians, singers, jugglers, clowns, magicians, dancers, etc. to come in for a 15 to 20 minute performance or demonstration at the end of the lunch period/s. These artists would be performing for audiences of 50 to 100 Kindergartners. At PS199Q, performers would only do one 15 to 20 minute performance. At PS150Q, performers would have the option of doing one, two or three performances back to back for three different groups of Kindergartners. Artists may choose to commit to performing at one or both schools. Please contact us at [email protected] for more information or to become one of our artists.
